Pigeon Fever in Kentucky

An unusual outbreak of the bacterial disease ?pigeon fever,? also known as dryland distemper, has been occurring in Kentucky over the past three weeks, according to Doug Byars, DVM, a specialist in internal medicine and equine critical care. He

Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

An unusual outbreak of the bacterial disease “pigeon fever,” also known as dryland distemper, has been occurring in Kentucky over the past three weeks, according to Doug Byars, DVM, a specialist in internal medicine and equine critical care. He said 15 cases have been confirmed with bacterial cultures in the last three weeks by Hagyard-Davidson-McGee veterinary associates in Lexington. He said about 15 more cases have been clinically diagnosed. Byars said there were mini-clusters of two or three horses on some farms.


“Pigeon fever has been reported east of the Mississippi before, but in solitary cases,” said Byars. “We found it in one individual about seven years ago (in Kentucky). I know Florida has reported increasing numbers in recent years. It should be going away when the winter weather sets in.”


Pigeon fever is one of the most commonly diagnosed bacterial problems in California (and several other western states). This disease is caused by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis and is seen worldwide. It usually is associated with very deep abscesses and multiple sores along the chest (hence the name pigeon fever, as the chest swells up and resembles a large pigeon breast). Occasionally there will be sores on the midline and abdomen, or even in aberrant places such as the back. Byars said there also can be times when the bacteria causes an ulcerative lymphangitis (which causes the hind legs swell and “bust out” in crusts). Horses also can suffer from internal abscessation.
















PIGEON FEVER ABSCESSES
Pectoral abscess Draining abscess Draining abscess 2

(Left) Typical pectoral abcesses caused by dryland distemper and the reason this disease also is known as pigeon fever.
(Center) Abscesses occasionally need to be drained by a veterinarian.
(Right) An abcess in the lymphatic tissue in front of the mammary gland being drained. The organism can cause mastitis if it invades the gland itself.
Photos courtesy Sharon Spier, DVM, PhD, Dipl

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Kimberly S. Brown is the editor of EquiManagement/EquiManagement.com and the group publisher of the Equine Health Network at Equine Network LLC.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
282 votes · 282 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!